For at least a half-dozen years, the Billings City Council have requested Federal funding for projects for projects that the City otherwise could not afford, such as infrastructure, equipment and land acquisition.  Council and staff members nominate projects, which are ranked by the Council.  An application form for each project that is ranked is submitted to the Federal delegation in Washington.  Projects that have been approved for funding in the last couple of years include remediation of the asbestos-laden Navel Reserve Center, funding for the Shiloh road project, digital video cameras for the Police Department, runway expansions for the Airport and replacement buses for MET Transit.

Ten projects for 2010 were presented to the Council at is Dec. 7, 2009, work session.  Council members were asked to rank eight of the 10 in priority order.  The attached list reflects the outcome of these rankings.  If approved, the list will become the funding requests for the 2010 Federal appropriations process.

The Council may:

• Approve the list as presented;
• Amend the list; or
• Not approve a list, resulting in several; projects being delayed until City funding can be completed, or not being done at all.

There are no immediate costs.  Some Council members have gone to Washington, D.C. each spring to meet with Montana's U.S. Representative and Senators and their staffs to discuss the funding requests.  There also may be future matching costs for some projects, depending on the sources of funding.

Staff recommends that the Council approve the list of requests for projects to be Federallyu funded as presented.